I Am A Cheechako
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2003
1
9
15
Trip End
Aug 04, 2003
Dawson City,
Yukon,
Canada
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
To Banana Chip, the sun in my sky
To Strawberry, my sweetest friend
To Walnut, the Burt Reynolds of nuts both manly and weird
To Cherry, my tart surprise
To Peanut, to praise you would be like praising the common man, cliche yet never praised enough
To Raisin, a sweet ying to peanut's salty yang
To Almond, bravely stepping into the spotlight without his usual coating of chocolate
To Pineapple, the largest on the bunch and yet the most tender
To Craisin, even you, the runt of the litter
To Mango-flavoured Pineapple Puck, the pinnacle of manufactured flavouring and colouring -- Yellow #6 has never been used so exquisitely
Alaska Pipeline
.Now to the action.
Sunday, July 13th - Latitude: 64 degrees North
Delta Junction, Alaska
As I have alluded to a number of times Fairbanks wasn't the most appealing place. It was somewhat run-down and in need of a new coat of paint. The city planners need to be fired as well. I would describe the city as half-baked. It was only supposed to be my base camp for a venture down to Denali National Park but the rainy & overcast weather put the kibosh on any chance of seeing Mount McKinley so I spent the day in Fairbanks instead.
I started by going to the one premiere attraction Fairbanks has to offer - The Alaska Museum at the University. It lived up to the hype (well as hyped as museums get). I was enthralled by the amount of information offered about the state's history, wildlife, peoples, geology, culture, northern lights, economy and construction. All this was done even though they are in the process of building a new wing and the museum space isn't as pleasurable as they'd like
Dredge #4
.The next stop was the old town of Ester found just to the west of Fairbanks. There are a couple original buildings from the turn of the century here so this town is now on the registered list of historical places. It's been all touristed up but if you wander into the little arts community that has sprung up beside it you might find yourself some treats.
After cursing the gray skies and scarfing some patented Trunk Meat Sandwiches I decided upon a trip out to the Chena Hot Springs. It was well worth the hour-long drive as I soaked in a mineral pool for a couple of hours letting its curative powers seap away my weather anxiety. This little side-trip also justified the packing of my bathing suit to a land where most water doesn't get above single digit temperatures.
Then I headed back down the Richardson highway to Delta Junction and as luck would have it the clouds opened on a couple of occasions to reveal the peaks of the Alaska Range where the snow looked pink because of the setting sun.
Monday, July 14th - Latitude: 64 degrees North
Dawson City, Yukon
At Delta Junction the Richardson turns into the Alaska Highway
Old False Fronted Building
. I was back on it. I could only get away from it for a day. You don't go anywhere up here without getting on the Alaska Highway.I had seen the town of Chicken, Alaska on the map over a year ago and was incredibly drawn to the place just to find out what kind of people live in a town called Chicken. Turns out the people are darn friendly but this isn't really a town at all.
Chicken sits just off the Taylor Highway which runs north from the Alaska Highway at Tetlin Junction up to a town called Eagle near the border. It used to be a real mining camp and there is still a lot of active mining in the area. The original town of Chicken, so named because its residents didn't know how to spell Ptarmigan, busted. There is still a downtown Chicken to visit. It is three small log buildings containing a gift shop, a saloon, and a cafe. They are all owned by the same person, an enterprising woman named Susan Wiren. She has taken advantage of the unusual name, the prime location half way along the Taylor, and add her considerable marketing talents to make this place a success. Even though I could see through this seemingly tiny town charm I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The food at the cafe is excellent and they didn't even look at me cock-eyed when I ordered my apple pie with cheddar cheese
The Chicken Liquor Store
.Along the Taylor you can also visit the Jack Wade Dredge. This large gold-mining machine has been rotting by the side of the road for 50 years now and it's a great photo opportunity.
Eventually the Taylor meets up with the Top Of The World Highway that leads across the border all the way to Dawson City. This road has decayed in a number of places but it's a fun trip. The scenery right around the border is amazing. You are sent over huge rounded dome hills where the wind blows hard and there is very little vegetation. On a clear day you can probably see for miles. On a misty day it's a very eerie sight.
I pulled into Dawson in the early evening. There is a nice hostel right across the river where you can tent or rent a bunk in a cabin. I set up my camping gear and then took the river ferry across to the town to do a quick reconnaissance of places to visit the following day. For the first time all day the sun made an appearance and I grabbed some quick photos of the colourful false-fronted buildings. There are even some buildings that are false-sided, that is in order to match the style of the town they have built false corrugated steel sidings to appear to be false-fronted
The Downtown Hotel in Dawson City
. Call it faux false-fronted.Tuesday, July 15th - Latitude: 64 degrees North
Dawson City, Yukon
I supposed to get up early because I had a lot to do today. Instead I slept until 10:30. Eep. Since Dawson City was the hub of Klondike Gold Rush there are many historical sites to visit and I had only scheduled a day to do them all in. By the time I got rolling it was noon. My first stop was a trip out to the gold fields along Bonanza Creek to Dredge #4. This dredge is the largest wooden dredge in North America. The tour of the dredge takes an hour and not only do you learn about dredge mining but you also learn a lot about the economics of gold-mining today. There are still a lot of active bench claims in the area and you can hear the sounds of earth-moving machines constantly while you are out there. As well, when you drive the road that leads into the gold fields you get a fine example of the destruction man causes while mining. The road is a tangle of chewed up rock and twisted old machinery. I made a quick trip to Discovery Claim -- the original claim made by George Carmacks on Bonanza Creek that started the great Gold Rush
The Jack London Cabin
. It was just a quick look-see because I was due on Author's Avenue.On Eight Avenue you can find Robert Service's old cabin, Pierre Berton's childhood home and a reconstruction of Jack London's Klondike Cabin. There is a small interpretive centre at London's cabin and a twice daily talk from author and discoverer of the cabin Dick North. The cabin is made with half of the logs from the original cabin. The other half were taken to Oakland and the cabin was re-made there in Jack London Square as well. At Robert Service's cabin you are treated to a talk by a Robert Service expert who went on for far longer than the hour we were told. Not that this was a bad thing because the guy does a great job of not only telling the story of Service's life and reciting his poetry but he imparts a number of educational points that might inspire the youngsters in the crowd.
I'm not going to prattle off all the gold rush history I've taken in since I've begun this trip but I'll let you know that a Cheechako is a soft newcomer to this hard northern land whereas a Sourdough is a seasoned miner. I'll also let you know that Service was one of the world's few poets who made a fortune off his work.
From Service's cabin I walked up Mary McLeod Road to where a trail leads out to the bluffs that overlook the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers
The Robert Service Cabin
. In this area there are also a number of scenic cemeteries built into the hillside. By this time I was getting damn hungry so I'm now at The Grubstake for some dinner and an Internet connection. I guess I'll take the self-guided city tour after dinner (and after this damn rain stops).Tomorrow I head further north along the Dempster Highway. I admit I'm getting a bit nervous. I didn't bring along a full-sized spare tire. The literature on the highway that I've read is 50/50 on the spare tire precautions warning. Half say bring one, half say the road is manageable without one. We'll see how far I get.
Sorry there aren't pictures. The computers here at The Grubstake don't have any software for me to edit them down into a reasonable file size for uploading to the Travelpod site. When I make it back into Whitehorse I'll attach photos for this entry as well.
